Kings: Has Luke Walton Lost The Locker Room?

Times are tough for the Sacramento Kings, and there are now signs of cracks in the foundation and a possible lost locker room for Luke Walton.

If winning cures everything, then losing can destroy it all. The Sacramento Kings find their season slipping away with every passing game and disheartening loss, and the frustration has begun to boil over. The fan base is predictably angry, and there are now plenty of signs of unrest within the locker room and organization.

The first official cracks in the foundation came from the fallout of the Kings’ December 26th double-overtime loss to the Timberwolves. Buddy Hield referenced trust issues between players and the coaching staff, and Dewayne Dedmon‘s trade request became public the following morning.

The losses that have continuously added up since mid-December certainly have not helped the situation and have likely only increased the frustration. After Saturday night’s loss in Utah to the Jazz, coach Luke Walton was asked why the team wasn’t more physical. According to Marcos Breton of the Sacramento Bee, this was Walton’s response:

"“I don’t know. You’d have to ask them”"

Those eight words are pretty powerful. Walton has yet to call out any players publicly and generally says the “right” things in post-game press conferences. But his indifferent answer to the question of physicality is certainly something to look in to.

Is Walton on the same page with his players whatsoever? Are they still learning his system and are they buying in? Has he completely lost the locker room, and the system be damned?

This latest sign of unrest comes just halfway through Walton’s first season at the helm, while it took much longer for former coach Dave Joerger to have any kind of public beef with his players. Joerger was hard-headed and not at all afraid to speak his mind, yet he was nearly three years in to his tenure when he had is much-analyzed on-court disagreement with Buddy Hield in Golden State last year.

On the court, the players lack drive and intensity. There is no cohesion. They look confused at times on offense and are almost always lost on defense. All are signs of a team divided.

If Luke Walton is a player’s coach and is losing the locker room halfway through the season, then a change is likely needed. While it is unlikely that the Kings would make any kind of coaching swap during this season, it will certainly be a situation to keep an eye on this summer.

But might that be too late? While the season will be lost after a few more defeats for the Kings, the second half of the year will be very important for development purposes. Sacramento will have to show promise down the stretch, or risk an unhappy roster and potential issues with the satisfaction of their young core.

If the Kings lose to the Heat on Monday afternoon, it will be their fifth loss in a row, and 14th loss in their previous 17 games.